Market Mojo: Where does your customer find you?

Running a successful business takes planning, dedication, passion and…of course...customers. No business lasts long without the people who buy its products and services. But, people don’t turn into customers until they visit your business and they don’t do that until they know about your business. So, how do you get their attention? That’s the magic of targeted marketing!

It’s no secret marketing takes time and money. What business owners sometimes forget is it can take just as much, or more, time and money to market unsuccessfully as it can to market successfully.

In the ‘70s, the average person was exposed to roughly 500 advertisements every day. Today, that number is closer to 30,000 and most people couldn’t even remember two of the commercials they had seen the day before.

That’s a lot of competition and some very long odds. A strategic marketing campaign can’t be created carelessly. You have to determine who your customers are, where your customers are, why your product appeals to them (or what problem it solves for them) and, of course, how to get your message in front of them. In other words – in the world of media, where does your customer live?

Are they newspaper readers? Print or online versions?

Do they have Facebook profiles or Twitter accounts?

Do they use other social media? Instagram? Foursquare? Others?

Is their favorite radio station country, rock and roll, news/talk, something else?

Will they watch Blue Bloods or Keeping up with the Kardashians? On a traditional TV or streaming on a service such as Hulu?

Do they use smart phones or tablets or both? Or neither?

Will they read, or even open, a direct mail piece? An email?

Are they addicted to apps?

Notice, I’m talking about your customers, and potential customers, not you. As a business owner, you may not live in the same media world as your customers. That’s OK, in fact it is fairly common. Don’t worry about what YOU like – the publications, shows, stations, websites, satellite radio networks, etc. You’re not marketing to yourself are you? Nope – you’re marketing to that all important customer and, as is often the case, the customer is always right!

Here at The Wendt Agency we spend quite a bit of time figuring out how our client’s target audience(s) use media and where they are spending their media time. It’s an integral part of our planning process and what helps us create strategic and successful media placement schedules. I would go so far as to say no marketing campaign can succeed without it. Whether you are advertising your one-day sale to a small local audience or building brand awareness across a broad region, your campaign will resonate more strongly if your message ‘lives’ in the same media neighborhood as your target audience (your potential customer).

Remember, if you want to be noticed and, better yet remembered, you need to make sure your message is placed where your target audience is already paying attention…in both the physical world and the digital world.

Carol Kruger is senior vice president at The Wendt Agency, an advertising and public relations agency located in Great Falls. Follow Wendt at thewendtagency.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/wallywendt and Twitter@WendtAds.